Hook securing attachment



Jari. l5, 1935. J. 1 MOILANEN 1,987,839

HOOK SECURI NG ATTACHMEN T Filed Aug. 22, 1952 ATTORNEYS Patented Jan.15, 1935 UNITED s'lAT/lazs lPATE;Nr ortlcisyv HOOK sECUmNGfv ATTACHMENTJohn L. Moilanen, Seattle, `Wash. Application August` 22, 1932,serialNo. 629,934 'y n 1 claim. 01. is- 45)A T My present inventionrelates to the art .of fishing or trolling spoons and more particularlyto` a hook securing attachment for such trolling dev1ces.

It is a well known fact that'sh when they strike a spoon which hasattracted their attention naturally strike at thespoon itself. As aresult many fish are lost where the hook secured to the spoon istrailing behind the same and further, quite often the trailing hookseriouslyaffects the proper functioning of the spoon in question. Forthis reason it is desirable to have the hook practically containedwithin the outline of the spoon. It has further been found desirable tohave the hook so arranged with relation to the spoon that it will bereleased momentarily and allowed to travel along the spoon for a shortdistance, the movement of the hook being lnnally abruptly halted so thatthe hook will be securely set into the fish.

I am aware that efforts-have been made to pro-l vide'means for theaccomplishment of thisr purpose. In each instance, howeven'it has beenfound necessary to use a specially constructed spoon or to completelymutilate the standard type of spoon and further it has been foundnecessary to employ the various sliding lugs, locks, slots and the liketo accomplish this purpose. With my present invention it is onlynecessary to provide a small spring attachment and then to use anydesired spoon'with its ordinary hook. This enables a fisherman to usehis favorite lure and to arrange the same after the principles of myinvention.

Therefore, the principal object of my invention is to provide anattachment which may be secured to any desired trolling spoon and whichwill hold the hook relatively securely in the most desirable positionyet in such a manner as to release the same when a sh strikes the spoon.

A further object of my invention is to provide hook securing means whichwill hold the hook fixed with the plane of the hook disposed in a denitefixed relationship with the plane of the spoon.

Other and more specic objects will be apparent from the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, whereinFigure 1 is a top plan view of a trolling spoon with my device in placeand with the hook in its retracted position.

Figure 2 shows my device on the same spoon but with the hook released asit would be if a fish struck the spoon.

the line lf-4 of Figure 2.

u Figure 3 is a sectional View taken along lthe line 3 3 of Figure..v11.]

Figurel 4 is a similar sectional view taken along Figure 5 is acrosssectional ViewV taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1. n f l .Figure6 is a perspective view rshowing the under side vof my attachment. fReferring to the-drawing, throughout which like reference charactersindicate like parts, vS designates the body of any of the common one'piece metal spoons such as are used for trolling and `the like. Thisbody is providedl with the usual leadinghole 10 to which the usual ringand swivel for attaching the line are secured.r At the rear, the spoonis provided with the hook attaching opening l2 which may be of anyystandard form. used for this purpose. I have shown one form of myattachment as secured `to probably.v one of the most common types ofspoon, that which is known as the swimming type, vin that it normallyrides on its edge as it goes thru the water. I would not care to have myattachment limited to this type of spoon however. It will work equallywell on any of the wobbling, clartingl or revolving types of spoon withequal ease. Disposed within opening 12 is the usual :fish hook lfi. Nowit has been common practice to so proportion the size of shank of hook14 that the barbed end of the hook will pass thru hole 12 yet the ringedend of the hook will be too large to pass there thru.

Secured substantially towards the forward end of the spoon is my hooksecuring device or attachment 16. This is composed of a portion near theforward end which must of necessity be made to lie flat against thespoon. If the spoon had a V shape at this point or rounded shape itwould be necessary to form my attachment in the same manner so thatclosed engagement could be obtained. This is due to the fact that I ndit desirable to have a firm engagement of the attachment at this point.This can be secured by means of rivets and the like. However, thesewould deface and mutilate the spoon. I prefer to braze or solder myattachment in place substantially as shown in Figures 3 and 4.

The attachment 16 should be made of material having inherent resilientqualities. One of the best metals I have found forthis purpose is Monelmetal. However any brass, copper or steel material which would have acertain amount of resiliency before it became distorted could be usedwith equal satisfaction.

Disposed at the rear end of attachment 16 I have provided two downwardlyextending lugs as 18 and 20. In some forms it might be desirable to formthese lugs as a single lug of equal extent with a small depression at 22which will accommodate the shank of hook 14. I further provide that at24 a depression is formed which as normally used will be extendingupwardly as viewed in the various views which will be of such an extentas to form a seat between the ledge 24 and the downwardly extending lugs18 and 20 which will befjust sutlcient to accomodate the ring or eye 26of the hook it is desired to use. When so arranged the hook is securedagainst rearward or forward movement in addition to being held secureagainst twisting about its longitudinal axis. In this manner the hookcan be denitely positioned with respect to the angle its plane makeswith the plane of the spoon. This is` a Very desirable characteristic ofthis construction andthe exact positioning of the eye 26 is further veryeenti'al` to provide proper balanceand to insure the desired resultantaction of the spoon.

It has been found desirable to have attachment 16 of suicient width tofully cover the eye 26. In this connection it is desired to point outthat the various features enumerated are quite essential to thesuccessful operation of this device. This device is not intendedprimarily as a com-y ponent part of a spoon. It is rather intended to beany attachment for securing to spoons to adapt them to this desirableprinciple. It will be clear` it is believed that all that is required toconvert the usual type of spoon which has the hook 14 looped intoopening 12 by means of a ring is to remove that ring completely, to passthe hook thru the ring opening 12 so that it is substantially as shownin Figure 2. Then to secure preferably by soldering thereto, which is acomparatively simple means', the attachment 16 to the body of f thespoon, it being necessary to retain the proporas before. In this way itmakes it possible" for the average sportsman to obtain double serviceout of his spoons.

Method of operation 1 and 3 in which the hook is well up upon the spoonbody and the eye of the hook is firmly engaged by ridge 24 and the lugs18 and 20. In this way it will be held secure for all normal use. Thenas the spoon is used and a fish strikes the spoon the rst actionnormally would be either to force the barbed end of the spoon as 28sideways or to force the entire hook rearwardly. Either action willresult in the springing upwardly of the loose end of the attachment 16so that the hook will be free, then the hook being free is much moredifficult for the fish to throw out of his mouth. In case of a hookwhich is xedly secured to a spoon there is some resistance for him towork against and the result is quite often that the hook is torn out ofthe mouth before it` bites deeply into the flesh. In the presentinstance tho` 'there is but an instant that the hook is free then ingdrawing are believed to clearly disclose a preferred embodiment of myinvention but it will be understood that this disclosure is merelyillustrative and that such changes in the invention may be made as arefairly within the scope and spirit of thel following claim.

I claimz- 'I'he combination with a trolling spoon and a hook having aneye and slidably attached to the spoon, of a spring blade attached atone end to the spoon, an offset ledge on the opposite, free end of theblade to frictionally engage over saidv eye, and a pair of spaced lugson the inner side of said ledge for straddling the hook, andfricticnally engaging the eye at opposite sides of the longitudinalcenter of the hook.

JOHN L. MOILANEN.

